Blotter pad and the like



F. M. DE BEERS BLOTTER PAD AND THE LIKE Filed Jan. 22, 1940 Feb. 11, 1941 Inveni'ora' "fr'ankUan MdeIB Patented Feb. 11, 1941 I 2,231,751

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BLOTTER PAD AND THE LIKE Franklin M. de Beers, Glencoe, Ill.

Application January 22, 1940, Serial No. 315,050

2 Claims. (01. 120-24) This inVention relates to improvements in blottherefrom. This will result in many advantages ter pads and the like, such as are widely used on which are manifest. oflice desks and in similar locations. Such blot- A further object is to make these edge supter pads are generally provided with corner plates ports removable bodily from the corner plates -5 or the like, under which the corners of the blotter of the blotter pad, so that they may be set into 5 proper may be slipped so as to hold said blotter place or removed from the blotter pad Without in place on the pad. Such blotter may then be any change in construction of the blotter pad readily removed and replaced from time to time itself. This will also-make it possible to provide as necessary. these edge supports as separate units or parts In the conduct of most office businesses many distinct from the blotter pad itself, and which 10 memoranda and other papers are handled which may be set into place in blotter pads already in it is desirable to place in some location where service. In other Words, by reason of this feature they will be temporarily available with convenit is possible to sell and deliver a set of these ience, and these corner plates or the like of the edge supports to an owner of a blotter pad, and

blotter pad constitute a handy receptacle under he in turn may set them into place in his blotter 15 which such papers and memoranda may be pad without diificulty. slipped. However, the capacity of such plates to A further object of the invention is to so formhold such papers and memoranda is very limited, these edge supports that they may be readily so that frequently an excessive number of such made from moulded or formed material, such as papers is forced thereunder, and a very unsightly Celluloid or the like. This may be secured in 20 and bulky blotter pad corner is produced. Fursheet form and cut to proper sizes and shapes thermore, such excessive loading of such corner and then formed by heat treatment into the edge pads results in injury or damage to the papers supports herein disclosed. and memoranda, and sometimes loss of important Other objects and uses of the invention will v papers, etc. Not only are the foregoing objection appear from a detailed description of the same, 25

true, but also any such papers and memoranda which consists in the features of construction stuck under the corner plates of the blotter pad and combinations of parts hereinafter described are so hid that they cannot be read except after and claimed.

removing them from the corner plates bodily. In the drawing: I '30 This in turn entails damage to the papers, con- Figure 1 shows a topface or plan view of a fusion, and sometimes loss of some of them. typical blotter pad having applied thereto typical It is the main object of the present invention edge supports embodying features of my present to provide, in conjunction with the usual corner invention; plates of the blotter pad, edge supports extend- Figure 2 shows a longitudinal section on the ing along the edges of the blotter pad, and so e of gure looking in the direction of 35 formed that such memoranda and other papers the arrows;

and cards, and the like may be slipped thereunder, i ure 3 shows a plan view of one of the edge such edge supports being provided along one Supports removed from the blotter D p es; or more of the edges of the blotter pad, and there- Figure 4 ShOWS 0 enlarged S e stantially 40 by providing an elongated support having cafull scale) one corner plate and the adjacent poru pacity to receive several times as many such tion of the blotter pa With the adjacent end memoranda etc., as can be accommodated under portions of the edge supp e der the said the corner plates themselves. Thus, for example, corner plate; and

by providing such edge supports along the back Figure 5 shows a section on the line 5-5 of and side edges of the blotter pad I am able to Figure 4, looking in the direction of the arrows. 45 .provide approximately fifty-three (53) inches of The blotter pad proper is designated by the space for accommodation of such papers and numeral 10. It is generally made of stiff cardmemoranda, in the case of a blotter pad of usual board or other suitable material, and may be form and size. suitably covered according to the desired finish.

It is a further object of the invention to pro- The corners of this blotter pad are provided with .50 vide such edge supports of transparent material the corner plates l I, I2, l3 and [4. These are such as Celluloid or the like, so that the papers generally, as shown, of diagonal form, being semiand memoranda received thereunder shall be vissquares divided diagonally at an angle of fortyible through the edge support and without having five degrees. Each of these corner plates is suit- 5 .to actually remove the papers and memoranda ably secured to the corner edges of the blotter pad base, and the details of such connection are not a portion of the present invention. It may be stated, however, that such connections of the corner plates are so made that the corner plates are supported slightly above the surface of the body of the blotter pad, so that a blotter sheet l5 may have its corners readily slipped under these corner plates, and be held in place thereby. This is general practice at the present time. Due to this fact, also, it has been customary to use these corner plates as receptacles for such miscellaneous papers and memoranda as already referred to.

According to my present invention I provide one or more edge supports such as [6, l1, and I8 along the edges of the blotter pad, and extending between the said corner plates, and supported by such corner plates, generally in removable manner. A convenient arrangement is that shown, in which these edge supports are in the form of strips of sheet Celluloid or the like, each of a width approximately one-half the edge dimension of one of the corner plates, so that two such edge strips, meeting at the position of the corner plate, will come properly together. Furthermore, these strips may be readily formed with their inwardly facing edges doubled over as shown at I9 (see Figure 5 in particular), thereby reinforcing such edges, and also providing a more finished and pleasing appearance, and also, as will be evident, serving to provide a better contact with any papers or memoranda set into place beneath these edge strips. For this purpose, such folded edge portions of the strips should face downwardly as shown. Furthermore, it is desirable that the outwardly facing edge of each of these strips be bent or formed downwardly as shown at 29 (see Figure 5 in particular) so that a back stop is thereby provided to prevent the papers or memoranda from being forced clear past the edge strips, with corresponding objectionable results. It is noted that when using such material as Celluloid or the like, a fiat strip thereof may be readily bent and formed into the desired formation for the present use, and as shown in Figure 5 in particular, by first heating the sheet Celluloid, and then suitably bending and forming it while still hot.

The ends of these edge strips are set beneath the corner plates of the blotter pad. For such purpose it will be found that such strips have sufficient flexibility to be bent slightly to enable their end portions to be so set into place; and then due to the reinforcing of the strips occasioned by the doubling over of the edge i9, and due to the right-angle back stop portion 29, it will be found that the strips will effectively retain their straight form and maintain good contact with the surface of the blotter sheet, and effectively hold the papers and memoranda in place. In this connection it is also noted that due to the slight flexibility of these strips they will tend to retain the doubled over portions 19 in face contact with the surface of the blotter sheet, but that when a paper is to be set into place beneath the edge strip this can be readily done and the paper will then be held with suiiicient firmness to keep it in place.

It is also noted that when using such transparent material as Celluloid or the like, it is possible to read the papers or memoranda retained by the edge strips without having to remove them, thereby greatly increasing the usefulness of the arrangement, and providing a greatly increased convenience of the user.

It is also noted that the ends of the strips coming together should be out off at substantially forty five degrees as shown in Figure 3 in particular; and that the ends of strips which do not come into co-operation with other strips may be cut off square as shown at the corner plates II and M of Figure 1. Furthermore, by terminating the edge portion 20 somewhat short of the ends of the strips as shown in Figure 1 there is provided a slightly increased flexibility of the end portions of these strips, so as to make it easier to set them into place beneath the corner plates, without detracting from the effectiveness of these outer edge portions to retain the papers and memoranda in place under the edge strips.

It may be noted that these edge strips may be made in sets of proper length to meet the requirements of standard sized blotter pads, and any number of the edges of the blotter pad up to its entire perimeter may be provided with such strips, thereby making it possible to meet varying conditions of demand and use of such edge strip space for accommodation of the memoranda and the like. Furthermore by selecting suitable colors for the edge strips very attractive and pleasing appearances thereof may be provided. The cost of manufacture of these strips will be very small.

While I have herein shown and described only a single embodiment of the features of my present invention, still I do not intend to limit myself thereto, except as I may do so in the claims to follow.

I claim:

1. The combination with a blotter pad having the usual base sheet and the usual corner plates for reception of the corners of the blotter sheet thereunder, of means to provide edge supports for papers and memoranda on said blotter pad and permit inspection of such memoranda while so supported and without the need of removal for such inspection, comprising removable strips of transparent slightly flexible material of proper length to extend between corner plates at one edge of the blotter pad and with their end portions accommodated between such corner plates and the blotter pad and supported thereby, each such strip having its inner edge folded double to thereby reinforce such edge and with such folded portion facing downwardly towards the surface of the blotter pad, and each such strip having its outer edge turned downwardly at right angles to thereby provide a back stop for papers and memoranda set into place beneath the strip, whereby memoranda set into place between the strip and the surface of the blotter pad are held with edge contact of the edge portion of the strip, and whereby such memoranda may be inspected through the transparent strip and without need of removal of the memoranda from the grip of the strip, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination with a blotter pad having the usual base sheet and the usual corner plates for reception of the corners of the blotter sheet thereunder, of means to provide edge supports for papers and memoranda on said blotter pad and permit inspection of such memoranda while so supported and without the need of removal for such inspection, comprising strips of transparent slightly flexible material of proper length to extend between corner plates at one edge of the blotter pad and with their end portions accommodated between such corner plates and the blotter pad and supported thereby, each such strip having its outer edge turned downwardly at right angles to thereby provide a back stop for papers and memoranda set into place beneath the strip having its outer edge turned downwardly at the strip and. the surface of the blotter pad are prevented from passing out from the strip at the edge thereof opposite to such insertion, and whereby such memoranda may be inspected through the transparent strip and Without need of removal of the memoranda from the support of the strip, subtantially as and for the purpose set forth.

FRANKLIN M. DE BEERS. 

